Drew Swanson is a News Article Editor from the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Being a gamer all his life and enjoying everything from ARPGs like Diablo to JRPGs like Pokemon and Persona, his love of digging into game lore and history naturally led to a passion for sharing these ideas with others through writing. He has been writing about games professionally for over 4 years, with bylines as a Contributing Writer at High Ground Gaming for 2 years before joining GameRant. He also has a background in video game studies with a degree from Washington State University, where he also won the Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Award in 2021 for his writing and design work on the game Quest for Arete.
PlayStation is sending out terms of service notifications to users, reminding them that they have agreed to the outlined terms ahead of the community’s planned blackout protest. Starting August 23, PlayStation users plan to turn off their consoles, refusing to play any games or spend any money on the platform until September 1 as a protest against Sony’s decision to end physical disc production in 2028. Now, users are reportedly getting emails from Sony outlining the company’s terms of service regarding digital game purchases.
PlayStation Issues Terms of Service Reminders to Users Regarding Digital Game Purchases
Users with PlayStation accounts have reportedly started receiving email reminders from Sony outlining their agreement to PlayStation’s terms of service in the wake of the company’s digital-only shift. Part of this email reiterates that the digital PlayStation software is licensed to the player, not sold, and can be revoked if the account is banned or closed, which is gaining attention from users due to its alignment with the grievances surrounding the upcoming protest. It’s not clear if the timing of this email is in direct response to the upcoming blackout protest or is simply coincidental.
“The Software is licensed to you, not sold. You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and personal license to play or use the Software for your private, non-commercial use on the system or device it was intended for. This license is only effective from the indicated Software release date, early access date, or beta release date. Any rights in the Software that we do not say are granted to you in this license are reserved, including all intellectual property in the Software.”
